With hedgehog numbers in such sharp decline there are so many things that we can all do to help, from
something as simple as leaving a shallow dish of water in our gardens to allowing hedgehogs to freely access our gardens.
It would be amazing if Calne could become a Hedgehog friendly town.
Food and Water
Bird food like mealworms, calciworms, sunflower hearts and peanuts are very bad for hedgehogs causing a huge array of health problems from getting peanuts stuck in the roof of their mouth through to metabolic bone disease which is where calcium is removed from their bones in the digestion of food and leaves them crippled, the effects are sadly irreversible.
If you wish to support feed hedgehogs the best and only thing recommended by rescue centres is meat based kitten biscuits or meat based cat or dog food in jelly. There are many foods that are specially made for hedgehogs but do be careful buying these as many manufacturers put in ingredients that are not suitable for hedgehogs like dried fruit, mealworms and calciworms, however Spikes and Brambles hedgehog food is ideal.
Hedgehog-friendly Gardening
To allow hedgehogs to access your garden all you need is to simply cut a hole in your fences or gates approximately 4 inches square (although slightly larger is better), by getting your neighbours to do the same this creates a ‘hedgehog Highway’ between gardens. You can even buy signs to attach to the hedgehog hole so that people know what it is for.
If you allow an area of your garden to grow as nature intended they will really appreciate this as their main source of food is insects and worms, it is however a gardeners myth that hedgehogs eat slugs and snails, they can actually make hogs very ill. As we quickly approach autumn and the leaves fall off the trees why not try leaving the leaves to naturally blow into flower beds, this will make ideal bedding for hedgehogs to use for hibernation plus as the leaves break down it encourages more bugs and worms to the area meaning more food for hedgehogs next year. I have been doing this for the last couple of years and not only have there been an increase in hedgehog numbers but the quantity and variety of birds coming to forage through the fallen leaves for food.
Chemicals that are used in gardens are having a vast impact on hedgehogs, things like slug pellets, weed killers and other chemicals are poisoning many hedgehogs and other animals. If these are not used you’ll be surprised how quickly nature takes over and other animals like birds and slowworms move in to eat the pests that are not wanted.
Strimming has seen many hedgehogs badly injured so please if a strimmer is needed please thoroughly check the area first before starting or better still if possible do any weeding by hand.
If there is a pond in the garden please make sure that there is an escape ramp that touches the side of the pond as if a hedgehog falls in it will swim around the perimeter of the pond, they will likely miss a ramp ending in the middle of the pond by swimming under it. Better still if a ‘beach’ or heavily planted area is created at one end of the pond not only does this look amazing but it will become a haven for all wildlife and insects.
A lot of hedgehogs are becoming tangled in netting from gardens if these could be removed or raised off of the ground this will prevent them becoming tangled.
Open and uncovered drains and holes pose another threat and covering the holes and drains will be one less hazard for them to face.
In an Emergency
If a hedgehog is found that is injured, walking in circles or walking wobbly, is ‘sunbathing’, is lethargic, has flies around it, is being attacked by crows/magpies or a hoglet is out on its own with no signs of mum please pick up the hedgehog or hoglet and place it in a high sided box and call one of our local rescue centres immediately, their phone numbers are:
Corsham Hedgehog rescue: 07813512755 / 01249 701760HedgehogsJoy, Devizes : 07917431734Oak and Furrow, Cricklade: 01793 751412Wiltshire Wildlife Hospital, Newton Tony: 01980 629470/07850778752I run the Facebook group ‘Chippenham Hedgehogs’ that offers help and advise to people and provides useful information so that we can all do our bit to help.
Many thanks to Laura Ashby of Chippenham Hedgehogs for writing this inspiring article.
